Healthy Imagination
March 28, 2005 7:33 AM Subscribe
Human beings have a gift for fantasy which shows itself at a very early age and then continues to make all sorts of contributions to our intellectual and emotional life throughout the life span.
And no less a luminary than Robert Trivers (altruism and kin selection, yes, that Trivers) is planning a book along these lines: "he's under contract with Viking Penguin to write a popular book on the evolutionary origins of deceit and self-deception, one that will argue that humans have evolved, in essence, to misunderstand the world around them." (Thanks to ericb for the heads up.)
(And perhaps it explains how salesmen and CEOs do so well, while engineers and scientists get screwed.)
posted by orthogonality at 8:40 AM on March 28, 2005
(And perhaps it explains how salesmen and CEOs do so well, while engineers and scientists get screwed.)
posted by orthogonality at 8:40 AM on March 28, 2005
More from the article on Trivers:
[Trivers is] certainly returning to the ideas generated by [his work in the 1970s]. The book on deceit and self-deception that he's now starting grows out of a brief but widely cited passage from his introduction to Dawkins's 'The Selfish Gene.' If deceit, he wrote, 'is fundamental to animal communication, then there must be strong selection to spot deception and this ought, in turn, to select for a degree of self-deception, rendering some facts and motives unconscious so as not to betray-by the subtle signs of self-knowledge-the deception being practiced.' Thus, the idea that the brain evolved to produce 'ever more accurate images of the world must be a very naive view of mental evolution.' We've evolved, in other words, to delude ourselves so as better to fool others-all in the service of the great game of propagating our genes.posted by orthogonality at 9:03 AM on March 28, 2005
These are great links--thanks, dfowler.
It's interesting to consider how mediumship plays into this conversation, too, in the sense that it might be considered an adult form of imaginary play.
I know some therapists consider the work mediums perform an "acceptable" form of healing, whether you believe they are projecting their own imaginary fantasies + characters outward, or tapping into another dimension, etc. Regardless, engaging in that kind of play can be a really positive exercise--calling it hooey straight-up misses the point from a psychotherapeutical perspective.
Nice post.
posted by leslita at 9:10 AM on March 28, 2005
It's interesting to consider how mediumship plays into this conversation, too, in the sense that it might be considered an adult form of imaginary play.
I know some therapists consider the work mediums perform an "acceptable" form of healing, whether you believe they are projecting their own imaginary fantasies + characters outward, or tapping into another dimension, etc. Regardless, engaging in that kind of play can be a really positive exercise--calling it hooey straight-up misses the point from a psychotherapeutical perspective.
Nice post.
posted by leslita at 9:10 AM on March 28, 2005
For more on kids' imagination and its connection to learning/school, I recommend Vivian Paley's book The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter. Paley taught preschool for many years and this is an account of the way she used fantasy, play, and storytelling in her classroom.
posted by mai at 12:16 PM on March 28, 2005
posted by mai at 12:16 PM on March 28, 2005
Sure, we are born with an interest in fantasy, but I don't think you really get into role-playing games until you're in your thirties.
posted by Peter H at 2:04 PM on March 28, 2005
posted by Peter H at 2:04 PM on March 28, 2005
And no less a luminary than Robert Trivers [is] "under contract with Viking Penguin to write a popular book on the evolutionary origins of deceit and self-deception, one that will argue that humans have evolved, in essence, to misunderstand the world around them."
Coincidentally, I came across this the other day:
"We deceive ourselves in order to deceive others better" says Wright. A lover who promises eternal fidelity is more likely to be believed if he believes his promise himself; he is no more likely to keep his promise. In a competition for mates, a well-developed capacity for self-deception is an advantage.
(John Gray - no, not the Mars & Venus one - in Straw Dogs, quoting Robert Wright: The Moral Animal)
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:44 PM on March 28, 2005
Coincidentally, I came across this the other day:
"We deceive ourselves in order to deceive others better" says Wright. A lover who promises eternal fidelity is more likely to be believed if he believes his promise himself; he is no more likely to keep his promise. In a competition for mates, a well-developed capacity for self-deception is an advantage.
(John Gray - no, not the Mars & Venus one - in Straw Dogs, quoting Robert Wright: The Moral Animal)
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:44 PM on March 28, 2005
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